Sky
by Myra the Sark
Summary: I've been through this one enough for everyone to know the details. I'm also trying to make it a bit more realistic this time. Will be somewhat AU, more so later on. READ THE NOTE PLEASE.
1. Chapter 1

The sun was almost set by now, and Chase was well-aware that the others wanted to find a place to camp out for the night—but they couldn't risk losing Dax!

He couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen; it didn't help that Beyal kept muttering as such.

"Seriously, can we just find a spot to crash?" Jinja asked for the tenth time.

Chase sighed in resignation. "Fine..." He squinted. "It looks like Dax stopped too, anyways." Said teen was about a half-mile away, and had climbed onto a rock overhang, and it looked like he was setting up his sleeping-bag.

It was right as Chase was about to set his sleeping-bag did he feel the hair on the back of his neck stand out. He could see that the others suddenly seemed uneasy as well. "Does anyone else feel like we're being watched?" Bren asked nervously.

Chase looked around—no one in sight.

He almost leapt three feet straight up when he heard someone say, "It's not safe for you kids out here by yourselves." The person who spoke was a dark-haired man with amber eyes that seemed very catlike. He was wearing an entirely-black uniform. It seemed as if he had melted out of the shadows as well.

"We can take care of ourselves," Jinja said, giving him a wary look. Beyal was staring at him with a wide-eyed fearful look—that alone gave Chase a sufficient warning.

"C'mon guys," he said, not taking his eyes off the man. "Let's try to get to a higher lookout…" The man's eyes narrowed a bit.

As soon as the five teens started walking, however, a metal canister suddenly bounced to the ground in front of them, then letting out a silvery-white mist.

"Wait, that's…!" Bren started, but he wobbled and fell over unconscious before he could finish.

Chase struggled to remain conscious himself, but to no avail. The last thing he saw was the amber-eyed man approaching, wearing a gas-mask over his face.

* * *

When he regained consciousness, Chase immediately saw that he was in a building…in a cage. "What the—?" he exclaimed, looking around.

The room was dimly-lit, and a few other cages were present, all but four vacant. Three contained his friends. The other, however…

Chase couldn't help but flinch, feeling somewhat disgusted. It looked like a boy who was four or so, with silvery hair. He also had shiny silver _scales_, finned ears, webbed hands and feet, and gills pulsed on the sides of his neck. The clothes he was wearing looked too small for him.

Swallowing, the teen forced a smile. "Hey," he greeted. Fishboy—as the scales looked like a fish's—didn't respond, staring with wide silver-blue eyes. "My name's Chase," he went on. "What's yours?" Fishboy tilted his head to one side. _Does he even know what I'm saying?_

Then, on the opposite side of fishboy's crate, Bren sat up, looking groggy. "Where are we?" he moaned, getting fishboy to look at him.

Bren stared. So did fishboy. Then the former screamed, causing the latter to shriek in a high-pitched tone, which got the other three up.

Jinja tried standing, which only resulted in her hitting her head on the top of the cage she was stuck in. "What's going on?" she exclaimed.

"I think that guy took us somewhere," Chase said, seeing Beyal sit up and look around.

Then the door to the room opened, and two people came in. Both were wearing white lab coats—the woman had glasses and ash-blond hair, and the man was holding a clipboard and pen; he had dark-brown hair.

They were followed by a man wearing an outfit identical to the amber-eyed man's—except this one had green eyes.

Fishboy's eyes went impossibly wide with fear, and he scrambled to the back of his cage. That alone was a warning.

"A-2 is still alive," clipboard-man noted, looking at fishboy.

"Should we put it in a tank?" the woman asked. "I mean, it developed gills."

"I'll write a note," was the man's dry-toned response, doing as such. The woman turned around, and paused upon seeing the five teens watching them. For a moment, Chase was hopeful.

It was killed when she exclaimed, "Subject 12 is so _cute_! It had white hair, even!" Chase felt an eye twitch. _It? She called Beyal an _it_?!_ Jinja looked just as outraged at that.

"Focus," clipboard-man said. "They're wanted in Lab 3. That's why we're in here."

"Right…" The woman sighed. "It's a shame that Subject 6 wasn't recaptured."

"Indeed."

Chase jumped a bit when the green-eyed man picked his crate up and put it onto a large flatbed cart. The man sneered when their eyes met in a manner that made the teen shudder. The same was done to the others.

The smell of antiseptic hit Chase almost immediately as they were brought into the hall. "Who are you?!" Jinja demanded. The only response she got was a sharp glare from the green-eyed man. Then they stopped, and the two scientists—as that was what they were, obviously—wheeled them into a room, which was occupied by a few others.

One, a man with dark hair and one gray eye and one blind-white eye, looked over them in a manner that seemed as if he was looking at something that had been run over by a bus. "So that's them?" he asked disdainfully.

"Yes Director," clipboard-man replied.

Director? That meant he was probably the one in charge here. "What do you want with us?" Chase demanded, part of him not wanting to know the answer.

The Director smiled in a way that unnerved the teen greatly. "You're all going to help us with a _very _important experiment," he said. "Now hold still a moment…"

While he was wondering what the man meant, Chase felt a prick in his arm, and he saw that someone had emptied the contents of a syringe into him, likewise with the others.

For a few moments, he simply felt a weird burning-twitching sensation in his arm—which very suddenly turned into the worst pain he'd ever felt in his whole fifteen years of life, coming from what felt like every nerve in his body.

Chase couldn't help it—he screamed. He definitely heard someone else—it had sounded like Bren, but maybe it was Jinja. Had it been Beyal? Or had it been all of them? His vision flashed a few different colors before going entirely black, and he fell into much-welcomed unconsciousness.


	2. Chapter 2

When consciousness returned to him, Chase had to force his eyes open. He was back in that room, back in that cage. Fishboy was watching him with wide eyes, now in a lit tank. He looked curious about the teen now.

Chase looked around—Bren and Jinja were still unconscious…but Beyal was gone. "Guys?" he exclaimed. No responses—they were really out of it.

He flinched when the room's door opened, allowing a scientist in—and he shoved Beyal back into his crate before leaving. Chase was quick to ask if he was okay. The young monk replied, "I believe so…but—why would those people do something so horrible to us?" The tone he used was so full of hurt that Chase decided he was going to punch one of those creeps in the face when he got a chance.

It was too sudden that the door opened again, except this time the scientist roughly yanked Chase out of his crate. He took the opportunity to punch the guy in the face like he promised himself, and twisted out of his grip. Before he could get the guy's keys, he felt a painful shock, which nearly got him to fall over. Then the guy smacked him across the face _hard_.

Chase didn't try anything after that—he'd definitely have quite the bruise on his face later. The scientist led him into a room that had a few equipment pieces, and he picked up an empty syringe.

Cue panic. When he tried making a dash for it, someone caught him by his shoulder. Namely, one of the green-eyed creeps. The guy's grip was like iron, so all Chase could do was look away while the scientist took some blood. He was thrown back into his crate afterwards.

Beyal glanced at him, and Chase simply said, "Suddenly I really, _really_ don't like needles."

"Yes," the white-haired boy agreed in a quiet tone. "Very."

* * *

They weren't the only ones, either. His two best friends stated the same thing later. Over the course of the day, all four of them had started feeling feverish, and felt slight twinges of pain in their backs that were steadily growing more frequent and stronger.

A particularly sharp one caused Chase to hiss in a breath the next morning, and sigh. "We have to get out of here," he said. "We still have to find my dad…" He sighed before adding, "And we lost Dax, too…"

"Uh, Chase?" Jinja started. "_How _are we supposed to get out? We don't have our cores or anything."

"Jinja is correct," Beyal said. "There is not much hope for us in this situation."

"That doesn't mean we should give up, though," Chase retorted. "Maybe if we could just get these open…" He trailed off. Suddenly a strange shivery feeling had stolen over him; the type of feeling that stated something really, really bad was right about to happen.

Then, without warning, someone stabbed him in the back—or so it felt. It caught him completely by surprise, so he couldn't help but shriek. He heard Bren, Jinja, and Beyal do the same.

The teal-eyed teen looked around—there was no one else in the room that could possibly have done it. They were alone—even fishboy had been moved out.

He barely suppressed another scream when another stabbing sensation tore through him. If he didn't know better, he would say that it almost felt like something was in his back, struggling to break out…

Another one hit, and this time he fell into unconsciousness…again.

* * *

They weren't sure how much time passed after that—it was one giant, agony-filled blur.

It was a struggle to even remain conscious, but it wasn't like any of them _wanted_ to be awake. The pain was incessant.

At one point, Jinja startled herself when she heard herself say "What's happening to us?"

Chase replied: "I don't know."

First coherent sentences any of them had gotten out in what felt like an eternity. Anything before had been random babbling from half-conscious states.

Afterwards, the pain began to subside. Then it finally stopped altogether.

* * *

What woke them up that morning was not the pain that had been haunting them, but rather the door opening. Chase closed his eyes tighter and turned his head away from the sudden light, despite how stiff he was.

Footsteps sounded. "They lived," a scientist muttered.

"A surprise," another noted. "There must be something special with this bunch."

"We better go report to the Director after we move them. Those cages need to be cleaned before they start stinking like blood."

Chase jolted when his crate was picked up and put onto a cart, along with the others. His eyes, adapted to the darkness of the room they were in, stung in the bright hallway lights, even when closed. To counter, he turned his head so that he was looking at the floor of the crate, shielding his eyes with his hands as well.

Relief came when they went into the shadows of another room. To his confusion, he felt one of the scientists pick him up and drop him onto the floor. He heard the same happen to the other four.

When the door shut again, Chase forced his eyes open. They were in a different room, _not _in cages. "Guys?" he asked. His voice was hoarse.

The other four pushed themselves up onto their knees, as did Chase when he saw. The five teens regarded each other for a while before the team leader finally said, "At least we're not in cages," in a hoarse voice while trying to smile, but finding himself wholly unable to. "How's everyone feeling?"

"Fine, I think," Jinja said in the same tone.

"What she said," Bren muttered.

"Beyal?" Chase queried. "What about you?"

The white-haired boy looked at him, but he didn't say anything. The look in his eyes said it all.

It was when he turned to the side to look at the door did Chase very suddenly have an idea on what had been the cause of the agony they had all been experiencing. Bren stared in wide-eyed shock, while Jinja gasped and covered her mouth.

One, Beyal's cloak was horribly bloodstained and torn in the back.

Two…he had wings.

Said appendages looked only a half-foot long each, limp, and covered in a thin layer of white stuff that was damp with something Chase didn't want to know the contents of. But the fact remained.

"Uh, B-Beyal?" Bren started, voice shaking.

Beyal gave the geek a puzzled look.In response to that, Jinja took his hand and put it on one of his wings. He went completely stiff before looking, and went very pale.

Something hit Chase like a cinderblock at that moment. _We all went through the same thing…_

Hesitantly he felt behind himself—and flinched when his hand came into contact with something that _should not _have been there. The wing—as that was most assuredly what it was—prickled under his touch. He could feel the fragile bones under the skin, and the slick-feeling white stuff. "Holy _krag_!" he exclaimed.

The other three looked at him, and quickly found that they all had wings as well. Bren babbled some nonsense, and Jinja's eyes went very wide. Another thing came to Chase's mind, and he took his jacket off, immediately paling. "Youch," Bren exclaimed quietly. "Sorry Chase…I don't think those stains'll _ever_ come out."

"It's okay B," Chase said quietly, taking in the damage done to his jacket. The back of it was not only torn, but bloodstained to a point where the once blue-and-white fabric was now a shade of red so dark it was almost black. "It—it doesn't matter. No big deal."

In truth, it was a big deal. His dad had given him that jacket on the last birthday he had before the Monsuno madness began. Jinja paused. "Wait a minute," she muttered, looking. Then, "Oh, gross!" Her shirt was in the exact same condition.

"Man, and this was my favorite shirt!" Bren exclaimed.

Meanwhile, Beyal stared blankly at his ruined cloak. Chase clenched a fist when he saw the look in the monk's gray eyes. _We need to get out of this place,_ he thought determinedly. _No matter what._


	3. Chapter 3

If it was possible, things got worse the day after. They had all been brought to a large room, which had a high-walled maze spanning the center.

They were timed on running through it while barefoot, which was a hazard in itself—all of the dead-ends either had heated tiles or a large patch of razor wire. Then there were the ankle-braces.

If they slowed down too much or even stopped to catch their breaths, they got an electric shock strong enough to scramble their senses.

Currently it was Chase's turn…for the eighth time. He rounded another corner, ignoring the exhaustion-induced tears blurring his vision. Another turn, and he had to whirl around to avoid vaulting onto a patch of razor wire.

Bren had reached his limit just before and passed out, and a scientist had taken him somewhere. Finally the end was in sight. As soon as the ankle-brace unclipped automatically, he let himself fall forwards, panting.

"Subject 9 looks pretty tired," one scientist noted. "Think we should give it a break?" Chase wanted to yell that he wasn't a "subject" or an _it_, but his throat was just too dry…

"Nonsense!" another scientist said. "One more run." A sharp zap in his side made Chase yelp and jump up. "See? It's perfectly okay."

The other one still didn't look convinced, but said "Alright," anyhow.

* * *

Chase didn't remember passing out. All he knew was that one second he was running through the maze, struggling to even breathe, and the next he was opening his eyes to see Jinja and Beyal hovering over him, eyes alight with worry. They both looked relieved when they saw him wake up, and then they turned to glare death at the scientists, who Chase saw had actually flinched slightly.

Jinja, he wasn't all too surprised. But Beyal…something just seemed _wrong_ with the young monk giving a look so full of hatred.

* * *

They were shoved back into the room a little while after. Chase immediately lied down and shut his eyes, dead to the world within a minute. Beyal sat down to meditate. Bren wasn't back yet.

Jinja felt tired herself, honestly. Beyal had decided to keep his cloak on only because not only would he not see the damage done to it, but also because his white shirt was stained even worse. The former reason was also why Chase kept his jacket on.

It wasn't long before she nodded off herself…but she was suddenly awake when the door opened, and a scientist deposited the brown-haired boy in the room. He had bandages over his eyes for some reason. "Don't take those off," the scientist instructed slowly before leaving. "We don't want him going blind."

Once he was gone, Jinja said, "Chase, Bren's back!"

"Huh?" the raven-haired teen muttered, opening one eye halfway. Upon seeing that she was right, he sat up in a hurry. "B, are you…?"

He trailed off when he heard a few quiet snores—Bren was asleep. For a few minutes, anyways—after a while, he sat up slowly, muttering "What's goin' on?" groggily.

"Bren, are you feeling okay?" Chase asked worriedly.

"Yeah…my eyes feel weird, though…and why the krag can't I see anything?"  
"Probably because you have bandages stuck over them?" Jinja replied. "The guy that put you in here said we can't take them off…or you might end up blind."

"Uh…okay!"

* * *

A few days went by, or so they thought. It seemed that the lights went off when no one was in the building, and came back on when someone came back—so they at least had some way of gauging time now.

Over those days, the four teens had noticed that their wings had not only gotten considerably fluffier, but also longer by quite a bit—they had also found that it was startlingly easy to move their wings—almost as if they'd always had them. Chase's own were probably seven-and-a-half feet long individually. Bren's were a few inches shorter. Jinja's seemed to be an even seven feet each, with Beyal's being about six inches longer than hers.

Moments later a scientist came in, and went over to Bren, untying the bandages. The teen blinked a few times rapidly at the sudden light, and the guy left.

A few moments of silence passed. Then he asked, "Is it weird that I can see you guys perfectly fine without my glasses?" in a weird tone.

The others stared at him in shock. Jinja backed up to the other end of the room, and asked, "How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Three," Bren replied flatly—which was correct. Both Chase and Jinja had known that Bren was severely nearsighted…at least, he _had_ been.

"That must've been why they had those bandages on you," Chase said, realizing. "They did something with your eyes."

* * *

The sound of footsteps outside the door got them up. "I thought they all left?" Jinja whispered. Chase was silent, keeping his eyes fixed on the door. It opened finally…and a familiar voice said, "Sorry for the wait. It took ages to get here!"

"Dax?!" Bren exclaimed in disbelief. In the faint light there was, Chase saw the Lowlander grin.

"Long time no see Princess," he greeted.

"Why you…!" the girl snarled, standing.

He abruptly changed the subject. "So…did the wackjobs do anything to you guys?"

"Uh…" Chase couldn't help but to glance at his own wings. Dax followed his gaze, and flinched.

"Blimey, that must've hurt," he said. Chase, Bren, Jinja, and Beyal all stared at him blankly. He didn't even look the least bit shocked or anything.

"Well, it did," Jinja said after a bit. "Understatement of the century! And—why are _you_ here?"

"What does it look like?" the Lowlander shot back. "I'm gettin' you all out of here!"

"Why?" Chase asked, confused.

"Trust me, I know this place." Dax shuddered.

"You've been here before?" Bren asked.

"Yeah. Not something I like remembering." His tone proved it.

"Okay…so what did they do to _you_?" Jinja asked.

"What, me? Well…" A few moments later, they found themselves seeing a dark-colored _feathered _limb behind Dax, who had stepped back into the hall. They could see that the wing, as that was what it was, was easily seven feet in length, like Chase's. They could also see silvery-white specks on them, like stars.

Dax laughed. "You should see the looks on your faces!" he said. "We better make like trees and leave before any security shows up."

"We need our cores," Jinja said.

"You think I'm daft Princess?" Dax held up an open bag—their cores and sleeping-bags were in it, as well as Jinja's credit-card.

"Okay," Chase simply said after a moment. "So let's go then."

It was as they were nearing the main lobby that Bren asked, "So, are we gonna get actual feathers too?" The others stopped to listen for an answer.

"Do the math Glasses," Dax replied. He paused. "Speaking of, I found these too." He tossed something to the geek, who barely managed to catch them. It was his glasses.

Bren stared at them for a bit. "I don't need them, though."

Dax shrugged. "Do what you want with 'em. Not my business." The brown-haired teen hesitated before putting his glasses in his bag, which Dax had given back. The Core-Tablet was in it, thankfully.

Bren glanced into the last room in the hall, and said, "Hold on—I want to see if I can download anything from that computer that might be useful."

Of course the computers were all password-protected and had "killer firewalls" as Bren put it. "You can get past them, can't you?" Jinja asked.

"I probably could, but I don't wanna risk frying the Core-Tablet over it!" Bren replied. They didn't notice that Beyal's focus was on something else in the room.

The air was chilly outside, and the sky was dark—it was cloudy, the hour before dawn. The only thing they heard was the wind. It was an unspoken agreement that Bren spun out Quickforce and Dax spun out Airswitch.

* * *

The five found themselves in the town of Newmarket. "Man, I'm _starved_," Chase muttered. Strangely he had never felt hungry at all during the time they were stuck in the lab (which he highly doubted was legal), but it may have had something to do with the many injections they got daily.

"And some new clothes," Jinja put in. "These ones are starting to stink. As much as Chase hated to say, she was right. His jacket was indeed starting to smell like old blood very strongly.

"Okay, so we'll get some new clothes first," Chase said, seeing that the sun was starting to rise. "And I think I know where we can find some."


	4. Chapter 4

"Okay, when I said we needed new clothes, I didn't mean this!" Jinja exclaimed.

They were hiding in some bushes near a washhouse. Some clothes were out to dry in the morning light, and no one was watching. "I do not understand why we are doing this either," Beyal put in.

"Well, we can't walk into a store looking like this," Chase reasoned. "How bad would it be if…" He trailed off. "Beyal?" he started, wondering how in the world he hadn't noticed earlier. "What's that you're holding?"

The young monk was carrying a small cat with mist-colored fur and water-blue eyes. "Her name is Silver," Beyal said, looking at Chase.

"Beyal, we can't keep a cat," the team leader said, frowning a little. If he had taken it from the lab, it probably wasn't fully a cat.

"But…!" Chase went stiff. Beyal just _had _to go with the puppy-dog face.

"Fine, we can keep her," he muttered in defeat. Beyal beamed in response. "Let's just get some new clothes already."

* * *

Two minutes later, they had all picked out "new" clothes. Chase took a light-blue T-shirt and a brown jacket that was well-worn. He felt bad for taking it, but it was necessary.

Bren had been quick to snatch a black short-sleeve with neon-green hems. "I'd take a coat too if I were you," Dax said.

"Why?" Bren asked.

"To cover the wings!"

The geek paused—their wings were still easy to pick out under their shirts. "True…" He quickly ran back and took a dark-green windbreaker.

Jinja came back holding a teal-colored longsleeve and a yellow button jacket that looked like it was made of a cotton fiber, and had also found a new white shirt and a silvery-colored jacket for Beyal.

* * *

They checked into a hotel to get cleaned up afterwards. Luckily the clerk was half asleep still, so he didn't give a second glance to their badly-stained clothes.

It was Chase's turn with the shower now—the others except for Dax (who claimed he didn't need one) and Jinja (who was next) had gone already.

He had forgotten how nice a warm shower felt. Chase turned his head to look at his wings. The water was causing the down-feathers to sag slightly due to being waterlogged, and they were sticking together—not the most comfortable of feelings.

Curious, he fingered the joint where his wing was connected to his back, and couldn't help but be both amazed and disgusted. They had literally grown new limbs.

Someone banged on the door. "Chase, hurry it up!" It was Jinja.

"Okay, okay, I'm hurrying!" he replied.

Once he was dressed—he'd had to cut slits in the back of his shirt and coat for his wings, of course—he briefly paused to look at his reflection in the mirror.

The look in his own eyes unnerved him.

* * *

The door was opened and shut again within eight seconds. Bren was working away on the Core-Tablet, while Beyal and Dax were fixated on the TV. The white-haired teen was enraptured by the "talking picture box." Silver was also batting at Dax's hair playfully, while said teen was apparently trying his best to ignore it.

They had locked the door, as they had their wings unfurled to dry. They weren't worried about the window—they were three stories up. There was a nice warm breeze, anyways.

Chase sat on one of the two beds in the room with a sigh. He knew for a definite that their lives were much more complicated now—it would be hard keeping their wings a secret from STORM. If they figured it out…it wouldn't be good. Same with Klipse if he found out.

"Hey Suno." Dax's voice made him jump. After Chase looked at him, he lowered his voice slightly, and said, "Catch." He tossed something, which the raven-haired teen barely caught.

Shock came over him when he saw what it was—it was a sky-blue core with orange grips. "How did you get this?" Chase asked quietly, looking at Dax.

"Same guy that gave me Airswitch," the Lowlander replied. "Ran into him on the way to get you guys—told me to give it to someone with your name and matched your looks if I saw him."

"Which way was he going?" Chase asked immediately, getting Bren and Beyal to look. Even the kitten looked at him.

"Not sure…but I think he was muttering something about Coastal City."

_Coastal__ City__—that's a week away from here!_ Chase thought excitedly.

* * *

"Listen up guys," the teen started as soon as they were all dry. "We're heading for Coastal City next. Okay?"

"Can we get something for breakfast first?" Bren asked.

"…yeah. That first."

"Chase?" Beyal asked. "What about…?" He gestured to their bloodstained shirts, jackets and such.

The raven-haired teen was silent, looking at his jacket. "Well…we can't keep them," he said finally. "They're all as good as worthless."

"Not exactly," Dax said, getting the others to look at him.

"What do you mean?" Jinja asked.

In response he went and got the scissors from the bathroom. "Take the bits that aren't stained and use 'em for bandages later."

He had a point. _Not to mention…_ After cutting a strip of fabric from his jacket, Chase tied it around his neck like a scarf. Upon seeing, Beyal did the same with part of his cloak. The other two did the same with their old shirts. The rest of the non-stained parts were promptly cut into strips and put into a bag.

* * *

None of the four really knew why Dax was following them. Then again, they all had wings. So maybe it was that single detail that tied them together.

The scenery was gradually turning more forested, and the air was less arid—they in the coastal region of Nestowe now.

It wasn't only by unwanted habit that Chase woke up so early. The other reason was that his wings were _seriously_ itchy.

"What the krag," he muttered, unfolding his wings slightly after sitting up, angling the left one so he could scratch it.

To his confusion, he felt small bumps under his down feathers—it still felt weird even _thinking_ that the feathers on his wings were…well, _his_, and not anything else's.

Chase found that his right wing had the same small bumps on them. But what could they be?

Curiously, he moved some down feathers aside—and stopped. There was something small and black poking out of his wing.

Some part of him instantly knew that he was looking at the tip of an actual feather.

* * *

His three closer friends had all regarded him in shock when he showed them, while Dax was just watching on.

Beyal had found that he had white feathers starting to come in, prompting Bren and Jinja to check their own wings—the former had spots of light-brown, while the later had points of ginger.

"Don't go getting too wound up," Dax said. "You're not gonna have the full set for another week and a half."

"What does it matter, though?" Bren asked. "I mean, it's not like they'll help us with anything…"

"Think again," Dax countered.

"Huh?" They turned to look at the dark-winged teen, who grinned before jumping up…and next thing they knew, Dax was _hovering _nine feet off the ground, wings moving quickly.

"You—you can—_fly_?" Jinja stammered, her eyes as wide as the others'.

"Yep," the Lowlander replied, looking smug. "Not just me, either."

It clicked after a few moments, and Chase felt what little feathers he had prickle. _They could fly_.

* * *

"Hey Beyal? I've been meaning to ask…" Bren started two days later—they had made camp for the night. "How can you be so sure that someone like Dax is really _the fifth_?"

"I'm right here ya know," said guy put in.

"Oh, I know."

"You're _gonna_ know!" Dax snarled, standing.

"Cool it guys!" Chase exclaimed.

"I know," Beyal answered Bren, "Because I had a vision."

"Sure it wasn't indigestion?" Bren asked. "I mean, after Chase and I had those _rat_-dogs back in Axistown, I was seeing things for the rest of the week!"

"True that," Chase agreed.

"This whole _destiny_ thing doesn't make any logical sense!"

"Destiny could not make sense to those who choose to run from it," Beyal said.

"What does that mean?"

"That you are the only one it does not make sense to."

"Not much does make sense to poor Brenny-Bren," Jinja said, ignoring Bren's venomous look.

"Destiny is like the night sky," Beyal went on. "You can ask a thousand questions about how it came to be, or what it is made of…or, you can stare at its magnificence and let the stars guide you to your ultimate destination."

"Oh yeah?" Bren started. "Well, did you _vision_ say anything about the _events of last month_? Or _these_?" He flared his wings for emphasis.

Beyal stared at him before looking at the sky. "No," he answered finally, looking troubled. "I did not. It did not…"

"They had all been startled to learn that they had spent the last week of February and most of March in that lab, missing Bren's birthday—the fifteenth, which was slightly ironic because it was his fifteenth birthday.

Over the two days, their feathers had come in more. According to Bren, their "scapular feathers," "lesser coverts," and "primary coverts" had all come in (he had looked things up on the Core-Tablet), so they had actual ideas of their feather colors.

Chases' were a deep, dark black, which reflected almost no light at all, and to everyone's bemusement, had sky-blue bands that glimmered faintly in sunlight.

Bren's were mostly the same shade of brown as his hair, with paler spots and some darker-colored streaks in a haphazard manner.

Jinja's feathers were a mixture of ginger, dark-red, gold, and cream, and Beyal's were as snowy-white as his hair.

Chase jumped a bit when he felt something brush against his arm—but it was only Silver, who looked at him in an almost-expecting manner. Smiling a bit, he scratched her between the ears. The kitten purred in response.

Tomorrow they'd reach Coastal City. And maybe they'd finally find his father…which also brought something else to his mind. A very big problem, in other words.

"Uh, guys?" he started nervously, his teal eyes widening. "How the krag are we supposed to tell my dad that we have _wings_?"


	5. Chapter 5

Everyone else was asleep, or so it seemed. Chase was proved wrong when he heard someone step on a twig, and he opened his eyes to see…Dax? _Where's he going?_

Once he was out of the camp, he quickly stood and started after him quietly. They had all noticed that their sense of hearing had gotten a bit sharper (although it was _nothing_ compared to their eyesight), so he made sure to tread lightly.

Chase followed him up to a riverside ledge, and hid on a ledge above. Dax was talking to someone on the phone…but who was it?

The raven-haired teen leaned forward a bit—only to fall. Dax whirled around, a suspicious look on his face. "You spying on me, Suno?"

"Actually, that's exactly what I was doing," Chase replied. "What are you doing out here?"

"What, I'm not allowed to stretch my legs? Or my wings?"

Chase sighed. "Sorry. I've just been…edgy, lately."

"Eh…I know the feeling.

"We better get back before any of the others notice we're gone and panic."

* * *

They had expected warm and sunny weather—it was almost April, after all. They certainly didn't expect a super-powerful rainstorm!

"According to the weather report I'm picking up on the Core-Tablet, this storm isn't moving or weakening at all!" Bren shouted over the wind. "This isn't any typical hurricane! Are you _sure _about this, Chase?"

"Honestly, no. But if my dad came out here, I want to see if we can pick up his trail! I'm not gonna let a little rain stop me!"

"This is more than a little rain—I can barely see the road!" Jinja exclaimed. A sudden cracking sound got all their attention, and they looked just in time to see a palm tree snap and fall towards them. They all scrambled out of the way—although Dax had to knock Jinja out of the way.

Said girl immediately shoved him away. "I'd rather have been hit by the tree than hae _you _save me!" she snarled.

He snorted a bit before muttering, "You're welcome."

"The town looks deserted," Beyal observed after a few minutes.

"Something just isn't making sense about this storm!" Bren said.

But before he could say anything else, Chase warned them: "_Car!_" Said vehicle had been sent flying by the wind—and was flying at them.

"Lock, launch!" Chase shouted, spinning the Monsuno out. Lock stopped the car where it flew before dropping it. "Lock, thanks for that. Return!"

"We should turn around," Beyal said after Lock did as such. "The storm is getting much worse."

"And go where?" Dax argued. "I'm sure if we go further into the city, we can find some sort of shelter." He had a point, and Chase agreed on it.

Of course right as they hit an intersection, a vehicle stopped in front of them—a STORM H-Tram, of all things! Two soldiers came out. "You, stop right there!" the first one said. They didn't make a move—maybe he didn't know who they were.

It was a long shot, but still.

"What are you kids doing here?" the second one asked.

"We're here to visit my aunt," Dax said smoothly. "We can't seem to find her."

"She's probably with the other townsfolk riding out the hurricane," the first soldier said. Raising his voice, he added, "C'mon, everyone inside! We'll get you to the underground shelter safe and sound."

"Sure, thanks." Of course he sealed their decision on his own then, so they went in.

Voice quiet, Chase said, "STORM doing humanitarian work? Does anyone else think this is fishy?"

"I'm just happy to be out of the rain," Jinja said. "I'll worry about conspiracies when I'm dry."

Conversation was halted when one of the soldiers spoke. "This is some crazy hurricane," he commented. "And all of it's started from one of those things."

"Shut up!" the other hissed. "You shouldn't be talking about stuff above your paygrade. _Especially_ when we got civvies riding with us?"

They all exchanged looks at that one.

* * *

They reached the underground shelter in a few minutes. "Great going Dax," Bren muttered once they were inside. "Now we're stuck down here!"

"What, you think we should've fought our way out in a hurricane?"

"As much as I don't like saying it, it, he's right," Chase said. "Plus, if my dad _is _here in Coastal City, he'd be here. Fan out and see if you can find him." Then he stopped. There was a younger girl, maybe about six years old, crying her eyes out. Being the softie he was, Chase asked what was wrong.

"S-Someone said there were monsters in the hurricanes!" the little girl got out.

"There aren't any monsters in the hurricane!" Chase reassured. "It's just a storm, and it'll be gone before you know it."

"So…there's no such thing as monsters?"

"Well, I uh…there are, uh…how do I put this…"

A voice cut in: "Maxine! There you are!" The little girl jumped up and ran over to someone who was most likely her mother.

They all smiled at seeing the reunion, although Chase couldn't keep down a bit of envy. He'd never really known his own mother—she had died when he wasn't even a year old.

He jumped a bit when a voice said, "I seen one of those before…" They turned to see an old guy staring at them, wide-eyed. The man pointed at Chase's cores. "I hoped I'd never see one again."

* * *

"'Stay with Chase' he says…I'm amazed he's survived this long without me!"

He opened a door to a storage room, looking around. _Right there._ Without a word, he stuck a small metallic device onto the wall, which began flashing blue. "One more down…and still a ton to go."

* * *

"What do you mean, you've seen one?" Chase asked Queeg—as the man told his name.

"It didn't look exactly the same…it was bigger, rockier—and I'll be damned if it isn't the reason that hurricane's blowing out there. I was fishing when I brought the thing up in my nets…it dropped onto the deck, and started boat capsized, and as I was swimming to shore…I saw one of those STORM airships, smack-dab in the middle of the hurricane. Wherever STORM is, trouble is sure to follow. By the time I got to shore, I was rounded up and put down here along with everyone else. I tried to tell everyone about it…but they don't believe me." He looked at them. "You believe me, don't you?"

"Yeah, more than you know," Chase said. "Now we just have to do something about it."

* * *

They met up in a secluded spot. "Where have _you_ been?" Bren asked.

"Looking for Suno's dad," Dax replied. Couldn't find him anywhere—I say we try the next town."

"Not yet," Chase said.

"Why? What'd I miss?"

"One: for starters, it looks like this hurricane isn't natural," Chase said. "It was caused by some sort of Monsuno…"

"Which makes it our business," Jinja put in.

"And now Chase wants to go into the middle of the hurricane to stop STORM from doing…whatever it is they're doing," Bren summed up.

"Whoa! You want to go into the middle of a hurricane?" Dax exclaimed. "You guys are bonkers!"

"Nope, just Chase. But if he's going in, so am I!"

"Look—we _know_ STORM. They're bad news!" Chase said. "And if they're after a Monsuno, they'll do _anything_ to get it!"

"Even more of a reason to get out of here while we still can!" Dax argued.

"Dax, look around. If we don't help…who will?" The dark-winged teen was effectively silenced.

* * *

They were riding Evo and Quickforce through the storm—Evo being Chase's new Monsuno. The others had all looked extremely startled upon seeing it.

Chase, Jinja, and Dax were riding Evo, while Bren and Beyal were on Quickforce. Silver was safely in Bren's bag with the Core-Tablet, although the geek had protested: _"She better not scratch it up!"_

"You know Chase," Bren shouted. "You're _really_ testing the boundaries of my friendship! This really isn't the best idea!"

"Heh—I'm with Spot!" Dax agreed.

Bren's response was instant. "I take it back! If he's against it, I'm sure it'll work!" A momentary pause. "Wha'—_Spot_?" he repeated indignantly.

"I have to call you _something_!" Bren muttered some things under his breath at Dax's response.

Finally they hit the eye of the hurricane—and there was the Cloud-Carrier. "There it is—let's go in!" Chase shouted. They all climbed into a large, circular vent, helping the others all up before their Monsunos automatically returned to their cores. Although Dax almost fell off—if Jinjahadn't caught him. "One good deed deserves another," she said.

He chuckled nervously. "Thanks Princess."

* * *

A scientist left a room. Once he was out of earshot, Chase motioned for the others to follow him. "Bren, work your magic," Chase said.

"_Bren_?" Jinja repeated, sounding incredulous. "How is Bren gonna help?"

"Oh Jinja," said teen muttered while shaking his head and typing at the same time. "Watch and learn. After I hacked STORM's code in our last encounter, I put in a little computer-worm. So now I have my own little backdoor into STORM's security."

"This'll _never_ work," she exclaimed…right as the monitors all came on.

"You were saying?" Bren said with a smug look on his face.

Jinja mumbled something in response, while Chase said, "Nice going Bren!"

The auburn-haired girl then noticed something on one of the screens. "Uh-oh," she said, getting the others to look. "Charlemagne—not good." Trey and Jon Ace were there as well.

"Turn the volume up!" Chase said. "Let's hear what they're saying!"

_"We were lucky to be in the vicinity when this Wild Core was activated. Are you _sure_ the device will work?"_ (Jon)

_"Considering that no one knew for sure that wild Monsuno energy even existed…no. But using Jeredy Suno's tech, we should be able to harness the potent energy with the device." _(Charlemagne)

_"How long will it take?" _(Trey)

_"Head-Scientist Memphis says it'll be a long process. He's recommending absorbing it at a slow rate, so we don't shatter it in the process. Another hour should do it." _(Jon)

_"Today is a momentous day…just zhink, it's down there right now…releasing enough power to create that hurricane. Imagine what would happen when ve manage to harness it." _(Charlemagne)

"Uh…I don't wanna know what would happen if they harness it," Bren said.

"Shh!" Jinja hissed. They were speaking again—

_"What of the city? Will the energy be absorbed before the hurricane completely destroys it?" _Jon asked.

It was silence a little before an answer came. _"Unlikely."_ Of course, Charlemagne.

Chase immediately had a plan. "Bren, I need you with me to help destroy that Wild Core. Jinja, you take Beyal and Dax for a diversion."

"Right!" the ginger-winged girl replied.

"Alright then—let's do this thing!"

But before they went out, Dax surprised them by saying, "Hey Princess, little something for the fight." He handed her a core. "Try this one out." Jinja looked mistrustful, but she took it anyhow.

* * *

"Sir, we have a problem!" a soldier said.

"What kind of problem?" Trey asked.

"Well…_them_." On the monitor were three of the rogue controllers plus an unfamiliar boy.

* * *

"Boost, launch!" Dax exclaimed, spinning a core out. The core slammed against a Hopper, and in a flash of light a wolf-like Monsuno that had some feline features emerged, also having ruby claws and spikes on its back.

Jinja spun out the core given to her—it was a frilled-lizard, through and through. Beyal followed with Glowblade.

* * *

"They've spun out their Monsunos on the ship!" Jon exclaimed. "Sound the alarm!"

As the alarm was sounding, Trey said into a communicator, "Charlemagne—ma'am, we have a _situation_ on deck…"

* * *

The frilled-lizard Monsuno—Whipper—shoved a few Hoppers off the edge of the Cloud-Carrier. Glowblade crashed down onto some soldiers. Boost ripped parts off of any vehicle on deck.

All three of them stiffened slightly when they heard Trey say, "You punks don't know when to quit, do you?"

Charlemagne followed up with, "But, I zhink that vill be a lesson I vill be happy to teach." She instantly spun Driftblade out, Trey following with Riccoshot.

"Glowblade, Electric Barrage!" Beyal commanded. Glowblade complied, sending the attack at Driftblade—who blocked it without effort.

"Riccoshot, Ballistic Repeater—wipe them out!" Trey shouted. The beetle Monsuno charged up energy and sent it as a wave—but Whipper deflected it.

"Taser Blade!" Charlemagne ordered. Driftblade shot electricity at Boost, who dodged with incredible speed, leaping into the air. The lion Monsuno attempted to attack again…but Boost seemed to vanish.

"What's that Charlemagne?" Dax taunted. "Your Monsuno getting confused? Or is it just my wicked use of Tracer Assault?" The wolf-cougar hybrid appeared behind Driftblade, and shot an arc of red energy at Boost. Yet Driftblade still blocked it. "What the—?!"

"Overconfidence is a terrible weakness, young man," Charlemagne chided.

"Whatever soldier-lady. It's game-on!"

* * *

"We have to travel alongside the beam!" Bren shouted over the wind. "But don't touch it—it's pure Monsuno power! One brush with that, and it's bye-bye destiny!"

"Avoid beam, follow beam, destroy beam—sounds easy enough. Let's do it!" Chase yelled back. "Evo, Shockwing!"

At the same time, Bren ordered, "Dispersion Blast!"

Both attacks hit head-on. And then the Wild Core shot energy spikes at them.

* * *

The Cloud-Carrier jolted suddenly. "What was that?" Jon asked. "Report!"

"Commander Ace, the Wild Core is releasing massive energy!" a soldier responded.

"Not good…"

* * *

Riccoshot dropped lightning on both Whipper and Glowblade. Boost lunged at Driftblade and bit hard, drawing a yellow-tinted green liquid from the injury—they figured Monsunos had some kind of blood-like substance as well—before being thrown off. Boost nearly went over the edge completely, if it hadn't caught itself on the edge. "No—up, up!" Dax shouted in desperation.

Boost pulled itself halfway up before Driftblade stalked forward, snarling. Boost growled back, and then Driftblade clawed it in the face, sending it skidding across the deck—only to be electrocuted by Riccoshot.

"Superior strategy vins every time," Charlemagne said, clearly certain that she and Trey were going to be victorious.

* * *

"This isn't working!" Bren exclaimed worriedly.

"Keep trying!" Chase reassured. Evo attacked the Wild Core again, this time after getting closer. And either it was just Chase, or the attack seemed more powerful. "I have an idea!" he called up to his friend. "Get as close as you can to the Wild Core."

"Great plan—if I was insane! Why would I do that?"

"Trust me—just do it!"As they went in close, both Evo and Quickforce started glowing.

"What's happening?" Bren asked fearfully.

"_Now!_" Chase exclaimed, and both Monsunos attacked simultaneously…shattering the Wild Core.

* * *

The resulting energy discharge punched three holes in the Cloud-Carrier, causing all of them to jump. "All systems down!" a soldier exclaimed.

* * *

On deck, Riccoshot sent a Ballistic Repeater at them, but Boost and Whipper both jumped over it—only to get Plasma-Barrage'd by Driftblade, who promptly electrocuted Glowblade. "Their Monsunos are too powerful!" Jinja exclaimed.

Before anything else could happen, another explosion sounded behind them. Trey looked distracted for a moment before saying, "Ma'am? I'm afraid it's over…the Wild Core's been destroyed."

At that one Charlemagne glared death at the three teens before snarling, "Return!" to Driftblade, who instantly complied—apparently he didn't like seeing his controller angry either. Trey called Riccoshot back, and they followed Jon into a Hopper, which took off.

"That's right, you better run!" Dax called after them. The three of them called their Monsunos back.

As soon as they did, an engine chose to blow out right then. As in, _blow up_. The trio was sent flying, although all Dax had to do was spread his wings.

To the others, however, the action had no usage. But as they were falling…Evo and Quickforce swooped in to catch them.

"Thank you Bren," Beyal said sincerely as Silver came out of Bren's bag and ran to him.

"Don't mention it," the geek replied. "I don't think I'm ready to give up on this whole _destiny_ thing after all."

"Thanks for the Monsuno Dax," Jinja said to the dark-winged teen, who had just dropped onto Evo. "I guess…maybe I was wrong about you after all."

"That's what I'm saying!" The Lowlander grinned at her.

* * *

"Wild Core?" Klipse exclaimed. To himself, he muttered, "Charlemagne, your incompetence knows no bounds…still. My genius will be the key to unlock the true power of the Wild Core! I _must_ have its power—then _nothing_ will stop me!"


	6. Chapter 6

Someone had told them that he had heard someone matching Jeredy's description saying something about Irrylyn City. So they were starting off in that general direction.

One detail that had them all tense—their last few feathers were coming in nicely, namely their primary and secondary feathers. The latter were about the size of a hawk's feathers, while the former were eagle-sized. Even then, they weren't fully in yet according to Dax.

"You still might be able to fly for a bit you know," the Lowlander had said.

"And how are we supposed to do that?" Bren asked.

Dax smirked. "I'll let you lot figure that out for yourselves."

* * *

So began the day of practice. They stayed near an old, leafless tree which Dax stayed at the top of as lookout—he had flown up there instead of climbing, prompting Jinja to mutter "Showoff."

The area around them consisted of an open prairie. The smell of salt was faint in the air as well, and there was a cool breeze, likely from the sea.

None of them had any idea on how to stay airborne for longer than a moment. So far all they had managed were backwards jumps—jumping up and hoping to stay up by flapping their wings (which honestly felt very awkward), but only pushing themselves back a foot before thudding to the ground again.

Everyone's patience was starting to run thin; even Beyal was beginning to feel slightly miffed. "There's a trick to it you know," Dax said from the top of the tree.

"Mind telling us?" Jinja asked.

The Lowlander grinned. "Like I said Princess—you need to figure it out for yourselves." Jinja glared at him, although Beyal saw a small smirk threaten to become visible—Silver was currently on top of Dax's head.

Beyal sat on a nearby rock with a huff. So far the only reward he was getting for trying was sore wings. The others had begun different measures of trying to fly, none being successful.

Beyal thought it over—a trick, Dax had said. The monk glanced up at him. When he had flown to the top of the tree…it had looked as if he had turned his wings slightly so that the forward-facing half was angled to the ground. So maybe _that _was the trick?

The white-haired boy spread his wings and glanced at his left one, turning it slightly. It was indeed possible; it felt almost natural, despite how _un_natural it really was.

Now certain, he jumped and flapped a few times—and he stayed in the air. Dax grinned. "Monkfish got it," he said, and the others looked at Beyal, stunned, before immediately trying for themselves.

Within minutes, all of them were off of the ground.

* * *

It wasn't long before Bren overbalanced himself by flapping too fast, causing him to flip in the air, crashing into Jinja and sending them both sprawling.

The girl glared at him, first looking like she was going to yell—but she instead broke out laughing. "Smooth move Spot!" Dax exclaimed.

Bren threw a venomous glare up at him before pausing. "That's it!" he exclaimed, going into his bag.

"Bren, what are you—?" Chase asked, cutting himself off.

"There," the chestnut-feathered teen said, looking proud with himself.

Chase found himself grinning. "Nice idea," he said. Anyone who was paying attention would see that Bren's "glasses" were naught but a frame. Other than that, it was virtually unnoticeable.

It had been weird seeing him without them anyways.

* * *

The area became marshier over the next few days, as they approached Irrylyn City. Their feathers had finished coming in—the largest of which outsizing any known bird's.

"It'll be trouble in all caps-lock if anyone finds one of these," Jinja noted, looking at her feathers.

"Don't worry about that Princess," Dax said. "Those won't come out unless you yank on 'em or something." He muttered something else under his breath, but Chase didn't catch it.

* * *

"Okay, so what's the deal?" Chase asked. The others were further ahead.

"There's some sort of STORM base up ahead, about two days from here," Dax said. "We'll be going right by it."

"So, we fly over it. Easy," Chase said, feeling an excited shiver go through him at the word "fly."

Dax gave him a look. "You guys can't even reach fifty feet yet. Besides…I have an idea."

* * *

**~Two Days Later~**

Dax watched on with amusement as the Commandant-Marshal was looking increasingly agitated. She had failed to notice Dax balancing on a tree branch behind the group of soldiers.

Finally, he heard Charlemagne mutter something, and saw her take out Driftblade's core. So Dax spoke up.

"I'm right here ya know," he said, jumping down.

All six of the people went stiff and turned to look at him. "Wha'—since when were you there/" an important-looking guy asked.

"Thirty minutes, give or take a few," the Lowlander replied casually.

The blond-haired woman was unfazed. To the others, she said, "Return to base and await further orders."

"But, ma'am—"

"_Now_, Captain Smith."

"Captain Smith" didn't say anything after that, instead saluting before going off, the soldiers all following closely.

To Dax, Charlemagne said, "Do we have a deal?"

"Sure do…as long as you brought the damn payment."

In response, she held up a vial of Monsuno essence. He was completely thrown off when she asked, "Does it bother you at all? To betray your friends like this?"

He thought about the question a bit before saying, "You care why?" No response. "For three vials of Monsuno essence—what do I care about Chase? He's a punk—just getting' in my way."

"You know young man, zhat was an impressive feat…going unnoticed like zhat for so long."

"Your point?"

"You would make a fine STORM Elite with a little more discipline and experience—"

"Don't talk about _experience_ to me, lady," Dax snapped. Lowering his voice, he added, "I've _experienced_ more things than you'd care to know."

If Charlemagne was put off by his outburst, she didn't show it. Instead she handed something to him, saying, "Take zhis. My command contacts—you can use any communications device. Keep in touch, understand?"

"Yeah, whatever," Dax muttered.

She paused where she had been walking away, and turned. "Do _not _disappoint me."

* * *

"Disappointed!" Bren exclaimed. "I'm not picking up any energy spikes related to the energy used in Monsuno research centers like your dad used, Chase." No sooner did he finish his sentence did the Core-Tablet beep. "Whoa, I take that back!"

"Our STORM friends have been keeping busy," Chase observed, now seeing a research center by a river below the ledge. He could easily see people moving about inside.

"Looks like they use the river for mining efforts," Jinja said. "Everybody wants Monsuno Essence."

"Where's Dax?" Bren asked. "I thought he was supposed to be here by now?"

"He was scouting up ahead," Chase said. "But this is late, even for him." He looked off into the distance blankly. "I don't know about him sometimes…"

"Well, you both know where I stand on that!" Bren said. "He's completely untrusthwor—"

He was cut off by Dax's "Yo! Don't you know it's dangerous to leave someone out here all alone? _Especially _us?"

"Leave _you_ alone? With that huge ego to keep you company? Not likely!" Jinja said.

"You want some ice for that?" Bren asked, smirking faintly.

Dax didn't reply, instead saying, "I checked some abandoned mines across the valley, on the other side of the base near the river."

"Any my dad might've used?" Chase asked hopefully.

"Oh. A couple that still have the Core-Tech symbol that STORM hadn't painted over yet. I can show you—maybe clue us in on what your dear old dad's up to."

"Maybe. Did you find a way for us to sneak past?"

"Of course I did. We don't want to run into the STORM freaks, do we?"

As they were traveling, Jinja said, "His _nice-guy _act makes me gag."

"He used to be too-cool," Bren added. "Now he's all boring, like us."

Jinja rounded on him immediately. "Zip it. _I _am never boring."

Beyal suddenly paused. "What's wrong?" Chase asked.

"I sense something…" He paused, and added, "It is nothing."

Dax had also stopped. "Let's see what the STORM geeks are up to."

"Oh great," Jinja said sarcastically. "There's Charlemagne."

"So we'll have to be extra careful," Chase said, seeing the Commandant down there as well. He was still getting used to their super-powered eye-sight—he could even make out her eye-color from the distance they were at.

After a few minutes of observation, Bren exclaimed, "Talk about Monsuno energy readings!" while looking at the Core-Tablet. "Those STORM Monsunos are powerful!"

"Great seats for the show, right?" Dax said. No one saw him slip something into Bren's pocket.

"Yeah, but while they're practicing trying to turn us into toast, we should book it and make time," Chase said.

"Sure. In the meantime, I'll go play scout." Dax turned and sauntered off. No one noticed Bren start following him.

* * *

When Dax was sure the others were far out of earshot, he took his phone out, and put the chip in. Charlemagne responded immediately. _"Speak."_

"No, _you _speak. What's the plan?"

_"Take zhem to the town in the middle of zhe valley. Can you handle that?"_

"'Course. I got it covered."

_"Listen to me, turncoat. You had better, because if you—"_

The sound of a twig snapping made Dax turn. "Uh, call waiting!" He turned the phone off.

"I saw that!" Bren exclaimed. "What are you _doing_?"

"Listen, Bren, mate, it's cool…" At that moment, Dax jumped, and landed a blow right on the back of the brown-haired teen's neck—right on the pressure point. He immediately dropped, completely and totally unconscious. _Glad I didn't blow off _all_ my karate lessons._

* * *

Bren woke up very suddenly. _Huh, wha'—what's going on?!_ He realized he was tied up…and there was Dax, finishing a knot.

"Sorry Glasses, can't let you mess this up," the Lowlander said. "Too important." He started walking away.

"Hey! Come back you—you traitor!" But he was already gone. _I gotta warn Chase!_

* * *

Chase looked up when he heard footsteps—Dax was back. But someone else was gone. "Where's Bren?" he asked.

"He followed me down the trail, and geeked out over some old Monsuno equipment he found," Dax explained. "I told him to catch up to us in town."

"Not like him to be on his own," Chase said. "But he _does_ tend to get distracted…"

"Told Glasses he was wasting his time—then he told me 'stay out of my face!'…in a much wimpier way, of course."

"Now _that_ sounds like Bren," Jinja said.

* * *

Bren struggled to get himself out of the ropes, but to no avail. He huffed, hanging his head a bit…when an idea suddenly came to him. He turned his head to look at where he knew his wings were folded. Maybe if he spread his wings a bit, it would stretch the ropes enough for him to get one of his hands loose.

* * *

The town was dead-silent. "Okay…is anyone else getting a creepy feeling?" Jinja asked. Chase nodded in agreement.

"It _is _quiet and peaceful, though," Beyal said, Silver mewing in agreement.

"Where's Dax?" Chase asked, stopping.

The others paused and looked around as well. "I liked the peacefulness of this place," Beyal started. "But I am beginning to have a very bad feeling about all of this."

* * *

"Yes!" Bren exclaimed happily to himself once the rope was all off—his plan had worked.

He looked around…and realized he didn't know exactly where he was. But he had an easier alternative, thanks to some crazy geneticists.

Knowing he was taking a risk, he spread his wings and took a running takeoff.

* * *

"Why do you keep saying we have to trust Dax, Beyal?" Chase asked.

"Because we have no choice. We five can only succeed together. We shall perish apart."

"Beyal, you're too sweet. Really," Jinja said. "But Dax is trouble, in all caps-lock. You're pretty much the only reason we trusted him in the first place. But…we _really_ need you to help us out here. Can we trust him _now_?"

The white-haired teen's response was not reassuring. "I…I cannot be sure. None of this makes any sense anymore…"

Then they heard something. Chase shushed them. "Guys, listen!"

He could hear something that sounded…like…_wingbeats_? Their hearing was a lot sharper, but no regular bird could be that loud. So it definitely had to be—

Without warning, someone dropped out of the sky in front of them. Namely, Bren. Chase and Jinja both exclaimed as such simultaneously, while the chestnut-feathered teen shakily folded his wings so they couldn't be seen. Between gasps for breath, he tried saying something, but it came out as gibberish. "Bren, what is it?" Jinja asked, steadying him.

"It's…_it's a trap_!"

At that moment, to their shock, a few "buildings" came down—actually walls. Not to mention they suddenly had a bunch of STORM soldiers pointing guns at them.

"Looks like we got company," Chase said.

Of course Charlemagne was there. "Chase Suno. Surrender now, and I suppose I'll go easy on you."

To his not-so-shock, Dax stepped out from behind her. "Better do as she says. Soldier-lady here is _very _serious, ya know."

"You—sold us out?!" Jinja shouted, looking angry.

"Heh. I'm a capitalist, princess," Dax replied smoothly.

"Guess I should've set my instruments to detect _traitor_," Bren mumbled.

"You still wouldn't've seen it coming, 'cause I'm that good."

"The only reason we _didn't _see it coming is because we trusted you," Chase said.

"Heh. That was _your_ mistake, Suno. Not mine."

Chase whirled around. "And it's a mistake I intend to correct." He took out Lock's core. "_Right—now_." The others all took their cores out as well…

And then strings flew at their cores. Chase managed to see it coming and moved his core out of the way just in time—but the other's weren't so lucky, and their cores were yanked away by some Elites.

Jinja acted immediately. "Bren, you stay here and back Chase! Beyal, you come with me." She didn't give the monk any time to reply, grabbing his arm and leading him off. Silver quickly jumped onto the ground. It seemed as though no one noticed her.

Chase took a few steps forward, as Charlemagne said, "Your only option is surrender." Two Elites surrounded him in a three-quarter-circle.

"Actually, it's not," he replied, quashing a sudden impulse to take off that came out of nowhere. "But I'll go with my personal favorite—namely, beating the krag out of you, Monsuno-style!"

"You have no idea vhat you're getting into, child," Charlemagne said in a low, dangerous tone, before throwing Driftblade's core into the air to spin it out.

Chase couldn't help but wince. _You have no idea what I've already gotten into,_ he told her silently before spinning out Lock. The two Elites sent out Crossbolt and Skysite, and the four cores collided in a flash of blue and yellow.

Lock immediately had to put up a shield to stop an attack from Skysite. Crossbolt tried ramming him—but he caught said Monsuno and flung it into a building. "Driftblade—Taser Blade!" Charlemagne ordered. The lion Monsuno attempted to attack Lock, but Chase intervened.

"Lock, Shooting Battery!" Lock leaped over the attack, and tried slugging Driftblade in the muzzle—but he put a shield up.

The polar-bear roared a challenge, which Driftblade returned. "You can't beat her, Suno! She's gonna down you good!" Dax taunted.

"Sorry, can't hear losers," Chase retorted. "Or traitors! You're a nobody—a ghost! A zero!"

Dax twitched angrily. "I got your _zero_ right here!" He pretty much flung Airswitch's core at Chase. The core hit one of Lock's claws, and the hawk-vulture-lizard Monsuno immediately restrained Lock, allowing Charlemagne to take advantage—Driftblade hit Lock head-on with an Electronade Cannon. "Lock!" Chase exclaimed in desperation. Immediately he took out Evo's core, and the avian Monsuno was spun out immediately. The swan-eagle immediately swooped in and rammed Airswitch head-on, causing a fair amount of blue-tinted green liquid to well up from a nasty-looking wound before zipping by Skysite, who let out random energy shots in a futile attempt to hit her—he didn't know why, but Evo just seemed like a girl to him. One attack dropped on Crossbolt, instantly sending it back to its core. Another nearly hit Charlemagne—it sent her flying.Not to mention another one dropped on Driftblade, right in the face.

The Monsuno tried to hit Evo with orbs of electricity, but she dodged each one with ease. Heck, the last one hit Skysite and sent _it_ back to its core.

"Unbelievable…" he heard Charlemagne growl.

* * *

"Huh?" Jinja muttered, half to herself.

She and Beyal had found the Elites who had taken their cores…in a net. "I do not understand," Beyal said. "Why are they in a net?"

"Beats me. Let's just get our cores."

* * *

The fight went on fiercely. Lock was low on stamina, and Evo had been sent back into her core. _I have to help Chase! _Bren thought. _But I don't have Quickforce…wait._ Was there something in his pocket? He checked—it was a vial of Monsuno essence. "When did I get this?" he muttered to himself. Then he thought, _To heck with that!_

Bren took out an empty core and put the essence in—the core immediately turned dark-blue. Before he could spin it out against Driftblade, something more worrying caught his attention. The shark-like Monsuno had burst out of the river and was heading right for Lock. So he spun his new Monsuno out on it instead.

As for what the Monsuno was…it was a saber-toothed tiger. No further explanation needed. It immediately jumped onto Hydro. Driftblade tried to take advantage of the distraction and shot a beam of electricity at Lock, but the polar-bear Monsuno put a shield up just in time. Then Longfang leaped from behind Lock, lunging straight at the lion Monsuno.

"Guardian Blade!" Charlemagne shouted. The shield went up, but it faded directly after Longfang's attack. Chase saw that she bit her lip slightly.

"Jaw of Light!" the raven-haired teen ordered. Lock responded immediately, shooting a beam of energy at Driftblade.

Again the Commandant-Marshal ordered her Monsuno to form a shield—but this time it gave out. Driftblade was pushed back a few feet…and then he returned to his core. "All right!" Chase cheered.

"Fall back! Fall back!" Captain ordered, and the soldiers began to retreat.

Chase saw that Jinja and Beyal had come back—Silver immediately leapt into the latter's arms—and whistled for them to come over.

"Failure? Failure is not an option…Lieutenant Smith," Charlemagne growled. Chase could hear them speak clearly.

"Uh…I'm a captain, ma'am."

"Not anymore." The ex-Captain looked down in humiliation.

Then Dax sauntered up. "Hey soldier-lady!"

"Call me zhat _one_ more time, and I vill allow Driftblade to use you as target practice!" Obviously, she hated the nickname.

"Hey, a deal's a deal. _You_ messed it up after I delivered—pay up!"

She muttered something before giving him two vials of Monsuno Essence. Dax glanced over sideways at him, and winked. Chase allowed a smirk to come up before he turned and ran after the others quickly.

* * *

"This is all so weird!" Bren exclaimed later on. "Dax sold us out—what are we supposed to do now?!" he asked.

"I have an idea," said guy suddenly asked, dropping out of the air and landing with a slight _thud_ on the ground, not bothering to fold his wings.Jinja immediately shoved him, and tried punching him—though he caught it.

"You—you stinkin' traitorous—" She talked quickly in an attempt to find a good word. "I _hate _you!"

"Whoa, take it easy!" Dax pushed her away.

"I am a man of peace," Beyal cut in, and Chase was first thankful for the intervention…until he processed what tone Beyal was using. "So perhaps we should tear him to pieces."

This time _he _lunged at Dax, until Chase cut in, saying, "Hey guys, hold on. I, uh…I have to tell you guys something."

It clicked. "You _didn't_!" Jinja exclaimed.

Chase laughed before saying, "Oh yes we did!"

Jinja grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him a few times. "Ugh! Now I hate _both _of you!"

"Chill, Princess," Dax said.

"It was all a plan," Chase explained. "Those STORM goons got worked!"

"Big time!" Dax agreed, grinning. "Chase and I figured we could use the fact that…well, that we aren't exactly BFFs to get something out of Charlemagne."

"She thought Dax was leading us into a trap, when really, it was the other way around!"

"We figured out how to make the whole fight in the training-town work, so we'd trash the place and still get out!"

"It would've gone wrong if you hadn't intervened, Bren."

"Oh, and Glasses?" Dax started.

"What?" the geek asked. Dax abruptly punched his shoulder. "Ow! What was that for?!"

"You're lucky those goons didn't see your wings at all!"

Chase knew Dax had a point—that was a real risk Bren took. It was still good that he got there so fast, though. "We faked her out of her coat, boots, _and_ her little whip!" Chase said happily.

"'Cause I'm an awesome actor!" Dax added. "Wait. Let me shorten that to I—am—awesome!"

"Maybe you're just so believable at playing traitor."

"That explains the net!" Bren exclaimed. "_You_ set it!"

"Yeah. I've been trapping things since forever," Dax said. "Knew those STORM goons would head that way. Couldn't let them keep the cores."

"And we earned ourselves some Monsuno magic!" Chase said. Dax smirked before taking out two vials of Monsuno Essence.

"Okay…that's not a bad way of saying sorry," Jinja admitted.

"If you don't mind, Dax…_I'll_ hold onto those," Chase said, holding a hand out.

"Not so fast! I snagged these!" the Lowlander shot back.

"We _all_ snagged them! So why don't you give them to Bren for safekeeping."

"Seriously? After all that? Where's the love, Chase? You still don't trust me."

"Uh, what's the word I'm looking for? No? Yeah—no. But I'm working on it."

"Well…maybe we both have to work on it, then."

* * *

To say that Charlemagne was still fuming over earlier was an understatement. The newly-demoted lieutenant was avoiding her at all costs at the moment…as was everyone else, really.

Something else was on her mind, though. When she had barely finished the word "experience" to Dax earlier, she had clearly hit some sort of raw nerve, with the way he snapped at her. Most cases, she wouldn't snapped right back at him.

The thing that prevented that was…she had _never _seen that look in _anyone_ other than the Elites who had been in STORM longer than her—and those ones were few. Let alone a _teenager's_.

It was the look of someone who had either seen or gone through something they shouldn't have.


	7. Chapter 7

"C'mon! Just keep running!" Chase urged his friendsas an explosion went off behind them. This one caused Bren to trip, however. Chase immediately ran back to help, and then they kept going.

"Hang on," Dax said suddenly. "I got a plan." He took off in a flurry of feathers, hovered for a few moments, and then zipped off, the flying robots in pursuit.

"Who keeps sending those things after us?" Chase wondered aloud.

"No idea," Bren replied.

About five minutes later, Dax came back. "Lost 'em," he reported.

"Is one day-off too much to ask for?" the raven-winged teen muttered. "B, can you check the maps on the Core-Tablet? I'm _so _fried…"

"Well…it looks like there's some sort of abandoned barn around here…"

"Then that's where we're going. Those things might come back at any time."

* * *

It didn't really take that long to find it. They'd all taken off to get a better view of the area—it had been Jinja who found it. But when Chase tried opening the door…it was locked.

"Oh great," Bren moaned. "Now what?"

"Easy," Dax replied, taking out a core. "We smash it open."

Right as he was about to spin out, however, an unfamiliar voice shouted, "Who's there?"

They looked around, and when Chase happened to glance up, he saw the gleam of eyes watching them from the loft. Wariness getting the better of him, he asked, "Who are you?"

"I asked first!" the person in the loft shot back—he could hear that it was a girl.

Chase groaned, shaking his head. "Look, can we do introductions later? We really need a place to hide and rest."

"In what order?"

"What difference does it make?" Beyal asked.

"Huge!" the girl exclaimed, leaning out a bit. "If you need to hide first, I'd say you're in a spot of trouble. But if _resting _was on your mind, I'd say your situation wasn't as dire."

"For cryin' out loud—can you just let us in already?" Dax exclaimed. "It's been two days since we got a single minute of sleep!"

Chase saw a look of sympathy in the girl's eyes, and she vanished from sight—moments later they heard a few metallic clicking sounds from the barn's door, and it opened, letting the girl poke her head out. "Name's Gwynneth," she introduced. "Come on in." They did as such. "Sorry about the mess," the girl went on, gesturing to the interior. It was full of loose hay, as well as…feathers?

Now that Chase got an actual look at her, he saw that she had black hair and sapphire-blue eyes, as well as slightly-tanned skin. She wore a faded-green shirt, and slightly-torn jeans. She couldn't have been older than thirteen.

"You don't _live _here, do you?" Jinja asked.

"Yup," Gwynneth replied, allowing herself to fall backwards onto a pile of hay. "All by myself. And, uh, who're you guys?" After they introduced themselves, she clicked her tongue. "Nice to meet ya. Not many people come out here."

"Yeah," Chase said, noting the state of the barn—there were a few tiles missing from the roof, and parts of some of the boards had fallen away, including from the loft. "What're all these feathers for?"

Gwynneth paused. "Uh…I collect 'em."

"They all look the same," Bren noted, picking two up and looking back and forth. Upon seeing a third, he exclaimed, "And this one's huge!"

The younger girl visibly swallowed, muttering something that sounded like "Knew I should've cleaned up earlier."

Knowing he was taking a huge risk, Chase asked, "Hey, Gwyn, I'll tell you a secret of ours—maybe two—if you tell us the truth about those feathers."

She gave him a narrow-eyed look. "You first." Without another word, the team-leader spread his wings, ignoring the others' exclaims. Gwynneth stared, wide-eyed, before grinning hugely. "And here I thought I was the only one!" she said, mirroring his action, earning dumbfounded looks from the other four.

Her wings were a dark midnight-blue, streaked by slightly-lighter stripes. A few minutes after the others relaxed enough to show their own wings.

"You guys got nice feathers," Gwynneth complemented. She then seemed to notice something, staring a bit. "Is that a cat?"

* * *

What woke Chase up in the morning was that he heard voices. One was Gwynneth. The other…

Immediately he stood and ran up to crouch next to the younger girl. "Jon Ace!" he exclaimed, surprised greatly. The others were up immediately after, and they went outside.

"Mr. Ace, what are you doing here?" Chase asked.  
"I came alone—I'm not here to fight. I'm here as a friend.  
"In that uniform, there ain't no such thing," Dax said, preparing to spin out Boost.  
In response, Jon took out an unfamiliar core—standard black-and-yellow, but with blue grips on it. He placed it on the ground. "Chase, I need to talk to you."

After exchanging quick looks with the others, he nodded. Jon led him up to a riverbank before saying, "Thank you for trusting me."

"Did you hear from my father?" Chase asked immediately. "Is he okay?"

Jon took a deep breath before saying, "No word yet. This isn't about Jeredy, though…it's about your friends." His tone turned solemn. "You have a spy in your group."

"Oh, so now you're gonna mess with my head?" Chase asked. "Turn me against my friends?"

"Chase, stop. Right now, I'm the only one you can trust. How do you think those drones keep finding you? How do you think _I _found you? This is a game you can't win by yourself…but with me, you might have a chance."  
"What are you saying?" Chase asked hesitantly.

"I'm saying it's time to leave your group, and team up with me. It's only a matter of time until one of you gets hurt—or worse, killed."

The winged teen was silent for a few minutes. "Okay…but give me a minute," he said finally. "I need to do this alone."

* * *

Chase explained the plan quietly, leaving out the "spy" bit.

Dax sighed. "You never learn, Suno."

"No, I'm finally smartening up," Chase said. "This entire thing has been for me. I dragged you all into it, and it's gotten us into the mother of all messes. We have feathers to prove it."

"What are you _talking_ about?" Jinja exclaimed "Who cares if we're a bit different than other people now?" A pause. "Okay, maybe a lot different. But we're a team! We've always made it through before, and we can do it again, as long as we stick together!"  
"I won't do it," Chase said with finality. "I can't risk your lives anymore! I need to do this alone."

"No one is ever truly on their own, Chase," Beyal said, while Silver stared at him with wide eyes.

"Seriously? You're gonna leave me with this guy?" Bren asked, pointing at Dax. "What kind of friend are you?!"

"Hey, B, c'mon—take a quick walk with me, okay?" Clearly puzzled, Bren followed, and Chase explained in a whisper: "B, listen up. Don't tell anyone, but…Jon says there's a spy in our group. Don't know who. And don't do any investigating."

Bren stiffened a bit, and nodded ever so slightly.

* * *

The next morning, the remaining four of Core-Tech plus Silver and Gwynneth were doing various things—Jinja was pacing back and forth, Beyal was meditating, Bren was doing something on the Core-Tablet, Dax was practicing his core-spinning, Gwynneth was showing off her acrobatic skills on some tree branches, while Silver merely walked around. Strangely they thought they heard someone muttering whenever she was near, but there was no one else around.

"I've figured out Ace's flight-path. I think I know which way they're heading!"  
"Keep dreaming man, Suno's long-gone," Dax said, walking over.  
"The only reason he's gone is 'cause of you!" Bren snapped uncharacteristically. "I mean, who are you, really? What do you want from us?!"  
"Chill, mate! You're unraveling!"  
"I always hate when I have to say this, but…" Jinja started. "Bren has a point. Why are you even here, Dax? You obviously don't have our backs, so why are you still here, _mate_?"  
"He is here, because he is meant to be here," Beyal replied. "He is one of us—one of the five."

Bren facepalmed. "Oh! Here goes little monkfish and his crazy prophecies! If you haven't noticed, we're not five— we're four! Chase is gone!" Beyal flinched slightly. The brown-feathered teen wasn't done there, however. "And if you had your eyes open, you'd see that Dax _isn't_ one of us, and neither are you!"  
He then got into Dax's face. "There should only be three of us! And if you ask me, it should still be three of us—everything was going perfect until you two came along!"  
"Don't tease me, man!" Dax spat.  
"Oh, I'm not teasing!" He backed up.  
"This is not good—not good at all!" Beyal exclaimed.

"What's going on?" Gwynneth asked cluelessly.

"Longfang, launch!" Bren shouted, spinning the core out.  
"Boost, launch!" Dax yelled in response, doing as such. The two cores collided in a flash of blue, and the Monsunos were immediately in combat. The younger girl was open-mouthed in shock. "Turbo Strike!" the Lowlander ordered. Boost ran towards Longfang in a blur, knocking him over.  
"Fang Burst!" Bren exclaimed, and Longfang snarled before shooting a continuous beam out of his mouth. Boost dodged it, however, and Bren growled in frustration.  
Dax did the same before turning to look at the other two. "Are you two just gonna stand back and watch, or are you going to help?"  
"I think it is time we called a truce," Beyal said, attempting to be the peacemaker.  
Meanwhile, Longfang managed to pin Boost down. "C'mon monk-boy, pick a side! You're the one who got me in this mess, so you better step up and back me!"  
Beyal was silent for a few moments before looking at Glowblade's core. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and shouted, "Glowblade, launch!"  
The three-headed snake Monsuno immediately shot energy orbs at Longfang—direct hit. In response, the saber-tooth sent a blast of energy back at Glowblade, sending him back a few meters. Jinja glanced quickly at Bren before saying, "Charger, launch!"

"Aw come on!" Gwynneth exclaimed. "Do you all have those things?!"

The moose-armadillo charged at Boost, but the wolf easily dodged out of the way—Charger ended up knocking some trees down instead. Afterwards he turned and went at Glowblade.

Bren gawked at the ginger-winged girl, who laughed a bit before saying, "Where else do you think I'd be?"

* * *

"One of these days I'll teach you both how to fly this beauty," Jon said.

Chase wasn't paying attention, however. "What did I do…?" he muttered to himself.

Jon heard him anyway. "Don't worry—the Commandant's only _really_ scary when she's angry."

"Mr. Ace," Chase started. "Jon…I appreciate everything you're trying to do for me, but I—I've changed my mind. I can't leave them—I have to go back."

"Chase…think carefully about this. Once you turn back, I won't be able to protect you."  
"They're my family! We've been through way too much together. They're all I have left…I have to go back!"

Jon looked at him, and at first Chase thought he'd argue…but instead, he sighed. "It's your choice. But once I drop you off…well, it's as far as I can go."

Suddenly they heard a beeping sound. Jon looked shocked for a moment before his expression darkened. "That does it," he muttered. "Hang on tight, Chase. I have to do some evasive action."

* * *

The four battling turned when Medea suddenly dropped from a tree. "Who invited _them_?" Jinja asked irritably.  
"Don't look at me," Dax said with a shrug. To Medea, he added, "Sorry, this is a private party."  
"Dear boy," the mercenary purred as the rest of her crew dropped down. "Please…allow me to show you my invitation!" She took a red-and-green core out. "Toxiclaw, launch!"  
The core collided with a rock, and a red Monsuno resembling a crab appeared. The other three were quick to follow up. Moonfire tried attacking Quickforce, but the said Monsuno immediately put up a shield. One of Toxiclaw's claws suddenly detached, slamming into Glowblade. "Children, play hard…for this is your last battle!" Medea exclaimed.

* * *

Chase flinched when the Hopper suddenly pulled up out of a sharp dive, only about thirty feet from the treeline. "Those are some crazy skills Jon," he complemented.

"We're not out of the woods yet," was all the commander replied, and Chase looked to see a fighter-plane tailing them.

"There's one coming from behind," the teen said—also seeing one coming from in front of them.

Then Jon stopped the Hopper. At Chase's look, he said, "Say when."

Moments later: "When!"

Jon caused the Hopper to drop twenty feet in altitude quickly, causing the two fighters to slam into each other, exploding. The pilots were okay, thankfully.

* * *

Longfang snarled loudly at the opposing Monsunos. Moonfire, Spiderwolf, and Spikebat attempted a combined attack against Boost, but the wolf dodged it.

Another blow from Toxiclaw shattered Charger's shield, allowing both him and Glowblade to be attacked. Glowblade was also down for the count, returning to its core.

Just when they thought it was over, however, when they heard a familiar voice: "Lock, launch!" The core collided with a rock, and Lock immediately slugged Toxiclaw in the face.

* * *

Jon watched the fight below for a few moments before taking one of his cores out. Coming to a decision, he put it into a Strike-Launcher. "Seafox, launch!" he shouted. The core spun into the forest below, colliding with a tree.  
The fox-porpoise hybrid materialized in a flash of golden-yellow, and roared loudly before leaping into the battle, clawing Spiderwolf in the face, sending him back into his core.

Seafox was mostly black, with yellow antennae-like things on its head. Its tail had a neon-yellow stripe going down it, ending in a curved blade. It also had webbed paws, and bladed spurs on its wrists and ankles. Toxiclaw attempted to attack Lock again. "Lock, Inner Shine!" Chase said, and Lock did as such—blocked the attack before countering it with a powerful energy beam, sending him sailing into Spikebat…both of them completely splintering the old barn. Gwynneth made a sound akin to a squawk.

"Oh, happy days are here again—Baby Suno…I've missed you so very much."  
"Took you long enough!" Bren said.  
"B, let's finish this thing!" Chase replied happily.  
"Yo, monk-boy!" Dax called suddenly, holding something up. "New Monsuno—catch!" He threw the core. Beyal caught it.

Moments later, he spun it out, saying, "Arachnablade, launch!" The Monsuno was a giant spider. No further explanation needed. Moonfire advanced speedily towards it, it simply raised one of its front legs and slammed it onto Moonfire's claws, stopping the crab Monsuno cold. Then Arachnablade used another like a dagger, defeating Moonfire immediately.

Now it was just Toxiclaw left. Lock rammed into him, and Seafox stalked forward, silvery-yellow orbs of energy forming around it— then they shot out at Toxiclaw, latching on before detonating in bursts of electricity.  
That stunned it long enough for Lock to slug it in the face, sending it back to its core. Weirdly Medea didn't look all that upset. "Welcome back, Baby Suno!" she called. "Welcome back!" Then she and her crew leaped off a ledge, using their flight-suits to scram.

"I thought you were gone!" Bren said. They were all glad Jon was giving them a lift to the nearest road in the Hopper.  
"Nah, I knew he'd be back," Jinja said, winking.

"Sad but true," Chase said.

Once the others were out after they landed, Jon asked, "Are you gonna be okay on your own?"

"I'm not on my own Jon," Chase replied. "They might be a bit rough on the edges, but we'll always have each other's backs."

After Jon left, Gwynneth said, "Now what?"

"First up we find somewhere to hide for a bit," Chase replied automatically. Then he realized who had spoken. "Wha'—Gwyn, why are you here?"

"Um, I'm officially out of a place to stay, no thanks to you," she retorted.

"Right…sorry about that."

"You can say 'sorry' by giving me one of those monsters! By any chance, was that the second secret you spoke of last night?"

* * *

Later on, they took some time to eat and rest in—for irony's sake—a barn. Beyal sighed. "Everything is again as it should be."  
"Not quite," Chase said. "There's one last thing… Jon said there's a spy in our group—which is why those drones kept finding us." At everyone's stares, he said, "I know, I know…it's insane. But I don't think he's completely off—I have a feeling one of us is bugged."  
Like clockwork, everyone turned to look at Dax. He put his hands up slightly in self-defense. "Blokes—blimey! I can't catch a break around here, can I?"  
"We don't know which one of us has it on them," Chase went on. "But we need to figure it out, and fast." He looked at Bren, who nodded and turned the Core-Tablet on.  
Amazingly, Dax didn't have a tracker. Neither did Jinja. He himself was also clean, and they checked Silver to be safe. Beyal, however…had it on his shoulder. His gray eyes widened in shock, and he took his jacket off and rolled his sleeve up—there it was.

Chase _tried _to take it off of his friend. It didn't come off; all it did was pull on the white-feathered teen's skin a bit. Beyal winced a bit as Chase did so. Dax looked at it for a few moments. "Chances are you got that from the nutjobs," he said. "It won't be so easy gettin' it off."

"Hold on," Chase said, taking out his pocketknife. "Beyal, this'll probably hurt a bit. Just—don't look, okay?" He nodded, and looked away. Chase's idea was a simple one—use the blade to cut whatever was attaching the tracker to Beyal. "Ready?" Chase asked, and Beyal nodded. "One…two…"

The tracker came off easier than expected, though Beyal flinched slightly. There were a few red prick marks in his shoulder, but they had band-aids.

Without another word, Chase crushed the tracker under his heel.

* * *

**Changed the ending a bit. Reason being: I tried writing the next chapter, and I hated it. ~Myra**


	8. AN again, sorry (it's important though)

**Should I just discontinue this altogether? I mean, I've rewritten it so many times...**


End file.
